BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 
«• 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


The  Old  Spanish  Trail 


By 
JOSEPH  J.  HILL 


Reprinted  from  the  Hispanic  American  Historical  Review 
Vol.  IV,  No.  3,  August,  1921 


Bancroft  [Jb,uiy 


Reprinted  from  THE  HISPANIC  AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  REVIEW 
Vol.  IV,  No.  3,  August,  1921 


THE  OLD  SPANISH  TRAIL 

A   STUDY    OF    SPANISH    AND    MEXICAN    TRADE    AND    EXPLORATION 

NORTHWEST   FROM   NEW  MEXICO  TO  THE    GREAT  BASIN 

AND   CALIFORNIA1 

SUMMARY 

The  present  study  is  but  a  chapter  in  the  larger  theme,  "The 
Opening  Of  The  Southern  Trails  To  California".  This 
entire  subject  has  generally  been  minimized  or  entirely  over- 
looked in  the  study  of  the  opening  and  development  of  the  West. 
There  is  usually  but  one  trail  from  New  Mexico  to  California 
marked  on  the  maps  dealing  with  the  subject.  This  is  the  so- 
called  "Old  SpanishTrail  to  Calif  ornia ",  which  is  indicated  as 
passing  through  Abiquiu  and  northwest  down  the  Dolores  and 
across  Grand  and  Green  rivers,  thence  west  to  the  Sevier,  and 
southwest  to  the  Virgin  and  Mohave  rivers  and  through  Cajon 
Pass  to  Los  Angeles.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  trail  was  not 
opened  until  the  region  had  ceased  to  be  Spanish  territory.  The 
Old  Spanish  Trail,  properly  so-called  led  to  the  Great  Basin  only, 
and  was  developed  as  a  result  of  the  Spanish  trade  with  the  Yutas. 
This  trade  began  with  the  first  exploration  of  the  region  and  con- 
tinued until  after  the  country  was  settled  by  whites. 

During  the  decade  between  the  time  of  the  Rivera  expedition  to 
the  Gunnison  River  (1765)  and  that  of  the  Dominguez-Escalante 
exploration  (1776)  Spanish  traders  made  frequent  visits  to  the 
Yutas,  remaining  with  them,  in  some  cases,  months  at  a  time. 
These  activities  were  possibly  confined  to  the  region  east  of  the 
Colorado  and  south  of  the  Gunnison.  After  Dominguez  and 
Escalante  had  explored  a  route  to  the  Great  Basin,  however,  and 

1  The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  gratefully  in  the  preparation  of  the  follow- 
ing paper  the  suggestive  help  of  Dr.  H.  E.  Bolton  under  whose  direction  it  has 
heen  written. 

444 


THE    OLD    SPANISH   TRAIL  445 

had  established  friendly  relations  with  the  Timpanogos  Indians 
in  the  vicinity  of  Utah  Lake  and  the  Bearded  Yutas  along  the 
Sevier  River;  traders  pushed  into  that  region,  also,  and  although 
no  other  official  expeditions  are  known  to  have  been  made  from 
New  Mexico  into  the  Great  Basin  during  Spanish  or  Mexican 
dominion  there,  still  Spanish  traders  continued  to  frequent  that 
region  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  pelts  and  Indian  slaves  until 
after  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Recent  research  has  considerably  increased  our  knowledge  of 
this  subject.  Anza's  campaign  against  the  Comanches  through 
the  San  Luis  Valley  (1779)  has  been  missed  hitherto  by  students 
of  that  section  because  Bancroft  had  erroneously  referred  to  it  as 
having  gone  northeast  instead  of  northwest  from  Santa  Fe. 
Documents  relating  to  the  activities  of  the  Yuta  interpreter, 
Mestas,  who  made  a  trip  to  the  Timpanogos  after  stolen  animals 
in  1805,  indicate  intercourse  with  those  Indians  not  previously 
recognized.  Another  hitherto  unknown  expedition  is  the  one 
which  was  led  by  Mauricio  Arze  and  Lagos  Garcia  in  1813  to 
the  Timpanogos  and  as  far  as  the  Bearded  Yutas  on  what  they 
called  Rio  Sebero  (Sevier  River).  Even  the  Armijo  expedition  to 
California,  1829-30,  seems  to  have  been  entirely  overlooked  by 
writers  on  the  subject.  Still  another  expedition  which  is  not 
generally  known  is  the  one  that  was  directed  by  Pedro  Le6n  in 
1851  through  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  and  Sanpete  valleys  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  Indian  slaves  The  Spaniards  even  operated  as 
far  north  as  Spokane  River,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  present 
State  of  Washington,  as  late  as  1853. 

The  trail  to  California  which  has  become  known  as  the  Old 
Spanish  Trail  apparently  was  not  opened  until  1829.  The  mis- 
nomer arose  from  the  fact  that  parties  going  from  New  Mexico 
to  California  by  the  northern  route  naturally  traveled  as  far  as 
the  Colorado  River  along  the  Old  Spanish  Trail,  and  were,  there- 
fore, said  to  have  gone  to  California  by  way  of  that  trail.  The 
name  thus  became  applied  to  the  entire  trail  to  California  instead 
of  just  to  the  first  portion  of  it. 

The  purpose  of  the  present  paper  is  to  clarify  this  entire  subject. 
An  account  of  the  various  expeditions,  their  purposes  and  results 


446  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

and  the  routes  traveled,  will  be  given  in  some  detail,  showing  the 
gradual  extension  of  Spanish  and  Mexican  activity  northwest 
from  New  Mexico  to  the  Great  Basin  and  California. 

THE   RIVERA   EXPEDITION   TO    THE    GUNNISON    RIVER,   1765. 

Possibly  the  first  expedition  of  white  men  northwest  from  New 
Mexico  as  far  as  the  La  Plata  Mountains  of  today  was  the  one  led 
by  Juan  Maria  de  Rivera  by  order  of  Tomas  Velez  Cachupin, 
Governor  of  New  Mexico,  in  the  year  1765.2  Although  Rivera's 
journal  of  the  expedition  has  been  lost,  its  content  is  partly  known 
to  us  by  its  having  been  known  and  used  by  Dominguez  and  Esca- 
lante,  who  seem  to  have  followed  it  more  or  less  closely  as  a  guide 
on  their  expedition  in  1776,  referring  here  and  there  in  their  diary 
to  places  described  by  Rivera. 

By  this  means  we  are  able  to  trace  the  general  course  of  Rivera 's 
route  from  Santa  Fe  northwest  to  the  San  Juan  River  (possibly 
named  in  honor  of  Rivera)  and  across  the  southern  spur  of  the 
La  Plata  Mountains,  which  seem  to  have  been  prospected  to  some 

2  The  date  of  the  Rivera  expedition,  according  to  the  printed  copy  of  the 
Diario  y  derrotero  of  Dominguez  and  Escalante  is  1761  (Documentos  para  la  historia 
de  Mexico,  ser.  2,  tomo  1,  Mexico,  1854,  p.  409).  Dominguez  and  Escalante  also 
speak  of  the  region's  having  been  explored  under  the  orders  of  Tomas  Velez 
Cachupin,  governor  of  New  Mexico,  but  without  giving  any  date  of  the  expedition 
(id.,  p.  389.)  If  these  statements  are  both  correct  it  would  mean  that  there  were 
two  official  expeditions  over  this  territory  within  at  least  a  few  years  of  each 
other,  since  the  date,  1761,  falls  between  the  dates  of  the  two  administrations  of 
Velez  (1749-1754  and  1762-1767).  This  of  course  is  not  impossible,  but  it  sug- 
gests the  question  of  error  in  the  date  of  the  Rivera  expedition.  As  a  further 
indication  of  the  possibility  of  such  an  error,  Cesareo  Fernandez  Duro,  on  the 
authority  of  a  manuscript  copy  of  the  Domlnguez-Escalante  diary  in  the  Real 
Academia  de  la  Historia,  dates  the  Rivera  expedition  in  the  year  1765  (Fernandez 
Duro,  Cesareo,  Don  Diego  de  Penalosa  y  su  descubrimiento  del  reino  de  Quivira, 
Madrid,  1882,  pp.  139, 142) .  Philip  Harry  also  gives  1765  as  the  date  of  the  expedi- 
tion in  his  summary  of  the  Dominguez-Escalante  narrative  based  upon  a  manu- 
script copy  then  in  the  possession  of  Peter  Force,  now  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 
and  which  apparently  had  been  copied  from  what  was  regarded  as  the  original 
in  the  archives  of  the  City  of  Mexico  (J.  H.  Simpson,  Report  of  explorations  across 
the  Great  Basin,  1859,  Washington,  1876,  p.  490).  I  have  adopted  this  date  because 
it  seems  to  fit  the  general  situation  better  than  the  other  one  does.  Since  writing 
the  above  note,  a  copy  of  the  Dominguez-Escalante  journal,  made  from  a  copy 
in  the  Seville  archives,  has  been  received  in  the  Bancroft  Library.  In  this  copy 
the  date  of  the  Rivera  expedition  is  given  as  1765. 


THE   OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  447 

extent  and  given  their  present  name  because  of  the  finding  in 
them  of  what  appeared  to  be  silver  ore.3  Continuing  northwest 
the  party  descended  either  the  Dolores  or  San  Miguel  River4 
(probably  the  Dolores)  and,  turning  to  the  northeast,  crossed 
the  Uncompahgre  Plateau  and  descended  the  Uncompahgre 
River  to  the  Gunnison.5  Here,  after  sending  a  couple  of  men 
across  the  river  in  search  of  Yutas,  Rivera  began  his  return 
journey,  presumably  retracing  his  previous  route. 

PEIVATE  TRADING  EXPEDITIONS  AMONG  THE  YUTAS,   1765-1776. 

Although  no  other  official  expeditions  are  known  to  have  been 
made  into  that  section  for  more  than  a  decade,  private  individuals, 
among  whom  were  members  of  Rivera's  party,  began  to  look  with 
interest  upon  the  region  just  explored.  Thus-  began  a  movement 
which  was  to  last  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century.  It  is 
a  movement,  however,  that  is  most  difficult  to  follow  in  detail 
because,  unlike  official  expeditions,  there  were  no  records  kept 
of  these  private  ventures.  In  fact,  owing  to  government  restric- 

3  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,    ut  supra,  p  389.     See  also  Juan  Bautista  Anza 
Diario  in  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Nuevo  Mexico,  II.  874 — Ms.  in  Bancroft  Library. 

4  While  on  the  San  Miguel,  Dominguez  and  Escalante  noted  going  down  the 
same  precipitous  trail  described  by  Rivera  in  his  journal  (Doc.  para  la  hist,  de 
Mex.,  ut  supra,  p.  401.     Cf.  W.  R.  Harris,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Utah   (1909), 
140. 

6  It  was  while  in  abctat  this  location  eleven  years  later  that  Dominguez  and 
Escalasnte  recorded:  " There  came  to  these  two  rivers  in  the  year  1765  Don  Juan 
Maria  de  Rivera,  crossing  the  same  sierra  de  los  Tabehuachis,  on  the  summit  of 
which  is  the  place  that  he  named  El  Purgatorio,  according  to  the  description 
that  he  gives  in  his  journal.  The  plain  on  whicii  he  camped  for  the  purpose  of 
fording  the  river  and  on  which  he  says  he  cut  a  cross  in  a  young  poplar  together 
with  the  initials  of  his  name  and  the  year  of  the  expedition,  are  still  found  at  the 
junction  of  these  rivers  on  the  southern  bank,  as  We  were  informed  by  our  inter- 
preter Andres  Muniz,  who  came  with  the  said  Don  Jt|an  Maria  the  year  referred 
to,  as  far  as  the  Tabehuachis  Mountains,  saying  that- although  he  had  remained 
behind  three  day's  journey  before  reaching  the  river,  he  had  come  the  past  year, 
1775,  along  the  bank  of  the  river  with  Pedro  Mora  and  Gregorio  Sandoval  who 
had  accompanied  Don  Juan  Maria  through  the  whole  of  his  expedition.  They 
said  that  they  had  come  as  far  as  the  river  at  thatftime1,  and  from  that  point  they 
had  begun  their  return  journey;  only  two  persons  having  crossed  the  river,  beting 
sent  by  Don  Juan  Maria  to  look  for  Yutas  on  the  bank  opposite  the  plain  on  which 
they  were  camping,  and  from  which  they  returned."  (Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.t 
(ut  supra,)  pp.  409-410.  Cf.  Harris,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Utah,  p.  146.) 


448  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

tions.  on  Indian  trading,  it  was  frequently  to  the  advantage  of 
the  persons  concerned  to  cover  up  all  trace  of  their  activities. 
It  is  only  by  occasional,  incidental  references,  therefore,  that  one 
is  able  to  get  a  glimpse  of  what  seems  to  have  been  happening  more 
or  less  continuously  during  this  entire  period. 

The  first  definite  reference  that  we  have  to  any  of  these  private 
enterprises  is  the  statement  made  by  Dominguez  and  Escalante 
concerning  the  expedition  of  Pedro  Mora,  Gregorio  Sandoval, 
and  Andres  Muniz  who  went  as  far  as  the  Gunnison  in  the  year 
1775  where  at  the  mouth  of  the  Uncompahgre  they  examined  the 
young  cottonwood  on  which  Rivera  had  cut  a  cross,  together 
with  the  initials  of  his  name  and  the  year  in  which  he  was  there.6 
All  three  had  accompanied  Rivera  in  1765  and  may  have  been 
on  other  expeditions  into  that  region  in  the  intervening  decade, 
but  of  such  activities  we  have  as  yet  no  specific  record. 

That  there  were  other  expeditions  such  as  this,  however,  is 
evidenced  by  statements  in  the  diary  of  Dominguez  and  Escalante. 
That  document  states  that  while  among  the  Sabuaganas  (who 
lived  on  the  headwaters  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  Gunnison)  the 
interpreter  had  misinterpreted  a  certain  portion  of  the  padre's 
speech  either  for  the  purpose  of  not  offending  the  Indians,  or  in 
order  that  he  might  not  lose  their  goodwill,  which  he  had  gained 
by  traffic  in  pelts,  which,  the  document  adds,  the  Spaniards 
frequently  carried  on  with  those  Indians  even  in  violation  of 
the  prohibitions  of  the  governors  of  the  kingdom.7  It  further 
refers  to  the  apparently  rather  common  custom  which  the 
Spaniards  had  of  going  to  the  Yutas  and  remaining  there  a  great 
while  —  two,  three,  and  four  months  at  a  time  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  pelts.8 

By  the  time  of  the  Dominguez-Escalante  expedition  (1776) 
the  region  east  of  the  Colorado  and  as  far  north  as  the  Gunnison 
seems  to  have  been  fairly  well  known  to  the  Spaniards  of  New 
Mexico.  This  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  more  impor- 
tant physical  features  of  the  country  were  referred  to  in  the  diary 

6  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,  ut  supra,  p.  410.    See  ante  note  5. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  518. 
^  Ibid. t  p.  519. 


THE    OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  449 

of  Dominguez  and  Escalante  by  names  that  are  still  on  the  map, 
and  in  a  way  that  would  lead  one  to  think  that  those  names  were 
in  more  or  less  common  use  at  that  time.  It  was  also  definitely 
stated  by  Nicolas  de  la  Fora  who  accompanied  the  Marques  de 
Rubi  on  his  tour  of  inspection  through  the  northern  provinces 
in  1766-1767  that  the  country  to  the  north  along  the  Cordillera 
de  las  Grullas*  was  at  that  time  known  to  the  Spaniards  for  a 
hundred  leagues  above  New  Mexico.10 

DEMAND   FOR  OVERLAND  COMMUNICATION  BETWEEN  NEW  MEXICO 

AND    CALIFORNIA. 

So  far  the  movement  might  be  considered  purely  local  in 
character.  But  at  this  point  it  takes  on  a  broader  aspect.  Urged 
on  by  the  Russian  advance  down  the  Pacific  coast,  Spain  had 
colonized  Alta  California.  The  first  expeditions  had  been  by 
water.  But  the  need  of  an  overland  route  was  keenly  felt  both 
as  a  means  of  protection  and  as  an  economic  saving  in  transpor- 
tation. From  Sonora,  Anza  had  led  a  party  to  California  in  1774 
and  another  in  1775-76.  But  the  route  was  far  from  satisfac- 
tory. Even  if  the  Colorado  desert  had  proved  less  formidable 
there  would  still  have  been  the  desire  of  opening  a  direct  road 
between  New  Mexico  and  California  if  that  should  prove  possible. 

9  La  Sierra  de  Las  Grullas  (sometimes  written  La  Grulla)  was  the  name  applied 
to  that  spur  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  beginning  in  the  vicinity  of  Marshall  Pass 
at  the  northern  end  of  San  Luis  Valley  and  running  towards  the  southwest  for 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  to  the  La  Plata  Mountains  of  today 
thus  forming  the  western  boundary  of  San  Luis  Valley  and  serving  as  the  divide 
between  the  waters  of  that  valley  and  those  of  the  Colorado  River.    For  a  de- 
scription of  these  mountains  by  Dominguez  and  Escalante  see  Doc.  para  la  hist, 
de  Mex.,  ut  supra,  p.  407,  and  passim. 

10  Relation  del  viaje  que  de  or  den  del  Excelentissimo  Senor  Virrey  Marquez  de 
Cruillas  hizo  El  Capitdn  de  Ingenieros  Dn  Nicolas  de  la  Fora,  en  compania  del 
Mariscal  de  Campo  Marquz  de  Rubi,  Comissionado  por  Su  Magesstad,  a  la  revista 
de  los  presidios  internos,  situados  en  la  frontera  de  la  parte  de  la  America  septen- 
trional  perteneciente  al  Rey.  Ms.  transcript  in  Bolton   Collection  (original  in 
Biblioteca  Nacional,  Mexico). 


450  THE   HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

THE  DOMINGUEZ-ESCALANTE    EXPEDITION    TO  THE  GREAT   BASIN, 

1776. 

For  this  purpose,  coupled  with  the  desire  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  Indians  to  the  north  and  northwest  and  of  exploring  their 
country  with  the  view  to  establishing  missions,  a  company  was 
organized  under  the  leadership  of  two  Franciscan  friars  —  Fran- 
cisco Athanasio  Dominguez  and  Silvestre  Velez  de  Escalante.11 

In  addition  to  the  two  fathers  the  party  consisted  of  the 
following  members :  Juan  Pedro  Cisneros,  alcalde  mayor  of  the 
pueblo  of  Zuni;  Bernardo  Miera  y  Pecheco,  a  retired  captain  and 
citizen  of  Santa  Fe;12  Joaquin  Lain,  a  citizen  of  Santa  Fe; 
Lorenzo  de  Olivares  of  the  pueblo  El  Paso  del  Norte;  the  inter- 
preter and  guide  Andres  Mufiiz  of  Bernalillo,  who  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Rivera  expedition  of  1765;  his  brother  Antonio  Lucrecio 
Muniz  of  Embudo;  Juan  de  Aguilar  of  Bernalillo;  and  Sim6n 
Luzero,  a  servant  of  Cisneros.13 

11  The  official  title  given  Dominguez  was  "Comisario  visitador  de  esta  custodia 
de  la  conversion  de  San  Pablo  del  Nuevo  Mexico".    Very  little  is  known  of  his 
previous  or  later  life.    Escalarite,  whose  name  really  should  be  written  V61ez  de 
Escalante  except  for  the  fact  that  he  is  so  much  better  known  simply  as  Escalante, 
was  "ministro  dodtrinero  de  la  mision  cfe  Nuestra  Sefiora  de  Guadalupe  de  Zuni." 
This  position  he  occupied  from  1774  to  1778.    His  various  letters  and  reports 
during  this  period  indicate  that  he  was  actively  interested  in  opening  a  road 
between  New  Mexico  and  Alta  California.     In  April,  1778,  at  the  request  of  Father 
Morn,  he  wrote  an  historical  account  of  New  Mexico.    Very  little  is  known  of 
his  later  activities. 

12  There  is  some  suggestion  that  the  expedition  was  actually  under  the  com- 
mand of  Miera  y  Pacheco.    Escalante,  writing  on  the  day  that  the  party  set  out, 
says  that  he  had  recommended  Miera  as  a  useful  member  of  the  party  "no  para 
comandar  la  expedicion  sino  para  construir  un  mapa  del  Terreno  que  se  andu- 
biesse"  (letter  to  Fr.  Ysidro  Murillo,  in  P.  Otto,  Maas,  Viages  de  misioneros 
franciscanos  a  la  conquista  del  Nuevo  Mexico,  Sevilla,  1915,  p.  89.) 

13  The  chief  source  of  information  concerning  the  expedition  is  the  diary  kept 
by  Dominguez  and  Escalante.     Manuscript  copies  of  this  dairy  can  be  found 
in -the  Archivo  General,  Mexico  (Bolton,  Guide  to  materials  for  the  history  of  the 
United  States  in  the  principal  archives  of  Mexico,  pp.  28,  39),  the  Archivo  General 
de  Indias,  Seville   (Chapman,  Catalogue  of  materials  in  the  Archivo  General  de 
Indias  for  the  history  of  the  Pacific  coast  and  the  American  Southwest,  p  425),  and 
in  the  British  Museum  (Pascual  de  Gayangos  y  Arce,  Catalogue  of  the  manuscripts 
in  the  Spanish  language  in  the  British  Museum,  p.  412).     The  first  printed  edition 
is  that  published  as  a  part  of  Documentos  para  la  historia  de  Mexico  (ser.  2,  tomo 
1,  pp.  375-558)  Mexico,  1854.    Recently  P.  Otto  Maas  published  a  portion  of  the 


THE    OLD    SPANISH   TRAIL  451 

Leaving  Santa  Fe  July  29,  1776,  the  company,  ten  in  number, 
directed  its  course  northwest  through  the  little  town  of  Santa 
Clara  on  the  Rio  del  Norte  and  Abiquiu  on  the  Chama,  across 
Rio  Cebolla  and  Rio  Nutrias  to  the  Chama  at  about  the  point  of 
the  present  El  Vado.14  On  August  5,  they  arrived  at  the  Navaj6 
River  where  it  turns  from  the  southwest  to  the  northwest  about 
three  leagues  before  it  enters  the  San  Juan.  Passing  on  the  com- 
pany camped  three  leagues  below  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  near 
the  present  town  of  Caracas,  naming  the  place  NuestraSenora 
de  las  Nieves.  Continuing  to  the  northwest  they  crossed  Rio 
Piedra,  Rio  Los  Pinos,  Rio  Florida,  Rio  Las  Animas,  Rio  La 
Plata  (also  mentioned  by  the  name  of  San  Joaquin),  and  Rio 
Mancos  (which  they  also  called  San  Lazaro). 

On  August  12,  they  arrived  at  Rio  Dolores  at  the  place  where  it 
turns  from  the  southwest  to  the  northwest  near  the  present  city 
of  Hogg.  From  here  they  followed  the  general  downward  course 
of  the  river  but  usually  at  some  distance  to  the  west  of  it.  Upon 
touching  it  on  the  17th,  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  Disappoint- 
ment Creek,  they  discovered  recent  signs  of  Yuta  Indians  whom, 
however,  they  were  unable  to  locate. 

journal  from  a  manuscript  copy  in  the  Archive  General  de  Indias,  in  his  Viages 
de  misioneros  franciscanos  d  la  conquista  del  Nuevo  Mexico  (Sevilla,  1915),  but 
unfortunately  there  is  only  a  portion  of  the  return  trip  included  in  this  publication. 
Rev.  W.  R.  Harris,  in  The  Catholic  Church  in  Utah  (Salt  Lake  City,  1909),  prints 
a  translation  of  the  diary.  It  is  so  poorly  done,  however,  that  the  work  is  prac- 
tically worthless.  Such  mistakes  as  the  following  occur  frequently :  Septentrional 
is  rendered  "southern;"  ochenta,  "eight;"  de,  "to;"  o,  "and."  Also  entire 
phrases  which  are  essential  to  the  meaning  of  the  context  are  frequently  omitted 
altogether,  and  there  is  a  complete  confusion  as  regards  directions. 

14  Harris  concludes  that  they  crossed  the  Chama  river  at  about  the  present 
site  of  Chama  on  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  railroad  and  from  there  followed  the 
present  route  of  the  railroad  west.  This  however,  seems  improbable  from  the 
fact  that  they  reached  the  Chama  after  traveling  only  three  leagues  from  the 
Nutrias  and  at  a  point  where  the  river  was  said  to  run  to  the  south  and  from 
which  point  it  turned  to  the  east  (de  oeste).  To  the  west  they  were  told  there 
were  two  lakes.  Stinking  Lake  is  directly  west  of  El  Vado  and  Boulder  Lake  is 
about  six  miles  to  the  north.  In  going  about  four  leagues  to  the  northwest  and 
north  from  their  crossing  they  passed  an  opening  in  the  mountains  "in  which  is 
another  lake."  Boulder  Lake  satisfies  this  condition  if  the  party  crossed  the 
Chama  in  the  vicinity  of  El  Vado  (The  Ford). 


452  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

An  effort  was  now  made  to  find  a  road  leading  to  the  west  but 
after  searching  a  day  and  a  half  nothing  was  discovered  but  a 
trail  to  the  southwest  which  was  seen  to  be  soon  obstructed  by 
table-lands  and  canons.  A  council  was  then  held  in  which  each 
member  of  the  party  disagreed  with  each  of  the  others  as  to  the 
direction  that  should  be  taken.  With  this  feeling  of  uncertainty 
prevailing,  they  finally  decided  to  follow  the  trail  to  the  Yutas 
and  there  endeavor  to  obtain  a  guide.  Leaving  the  Dolores  they 
pursued  a  northeasterly  course  crossing  the  San  Miguel  River, 
which  they  called  Rio  San  Pedro,15  and  the  Uncompahgre  Plateau, 
which  they  referred  to  as  the  Sierra  de  los  Tabehuachis,  and 
finally  on  the  26th  of  August,  "entered  the  pleasant  valley  and 
river  of  San  Francisco,  called  by  the  Yutas  the  Ancapagari". 
From  about  thirty  miles  from  the  junction  of  the  Uncompahgre 
with  the  Gunnison  they  descended  to  within  about  ten  miles 
of  its  mouth  when  they  turned  north  to  the  Gunnison,  which  they 
named  San  Xavier  and  which  they  said  the  Indians  called  the 
Tomichi.  Going  up  the  Gunnison  and  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Gunnison  they  came  to  some  villages  of  the  Sabuaganas  Yutas. 
Here  they  met  Indians  belonging  to  the  Timpanogos,  or  Lagunas,16 
tribe,  "to  whose  country",  the  journal  significantly  states, 
"  we  were  already  intending  to  go.  "17 

Thus  far  their  course  had  led  over  territory  fairly  well  known. 
The  interpreter,  Andre's  Muniz,  had  been  over  most  of  it  at 
least  twice  before,  and  probably  other  members  of  the  party 
had  also  been  over  part  of  it.  But  from  now  on  their  route  was 
to  lead  them  into  territory  apparently  never  before  explored  by 
white  men. 

Having  secured  the  services  of  two  Lagunas  as  guides,  the 
party  set  out  on  September  2,  intent  upon  finding  the  home  of 
the  Lagunas.  Going  generally  to  the  northwest  they  crossed 
the  Grand  and  White  rivers  and,  on  September  13,  arrived  at 

16  The  San  Miguel  is  the  first  river  to  be  referred  to  by  a  different  name  than 
that  by  which  it  is  known  today. 

16  Also  called  Timpangotzis,  Timpaiavats,  etc. 

17  "A  cuya  tierra  intentabamos  ya  pasar".     Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,  se"r.  2, 
tomo  I,  p.  411. 


THE    OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  453 

the  banks  of  Green  River  (called  by  them  San  Buenaventura) 
near  the  mouth  of  Brush  Creek  a  little  above  the  present  site  of 
Jensen,  Utah.  Crossing  the  river  they  directed  their  course  to 
the  southwest  until  they  arrived  at  the  junction  of  the  Uinta  and 
Du  Chesne  rivers.  Going  up  the  Du  Chesne  and  Strawberry 
rivers  and  crossing  the  summit  they  seem  to  have  descended 
along  Diamond  Creek  and  Spanish  Fork  River  to  the  settlements 
of  the  Timpanogos  on  the  eastern  shores  of  Utah  Lake,  where 
they  arrived  September  23,  1776.18 

Of  this  region — its  geography,  inhabitants,  and  possibilities 
of  development — the  padres  speak  in  considerable  detail.  They 
mention  four  rivers  which  flow  into  the  lake,  the  first  of  which, 
beginning  at  the  south,  was  named  Aguascalientes  on  account  of 
the  hot  springs  that  had  been  observed  while  descending  it. 
This  was  Spanish  Fork  River,  down  which  the  party  had  just  come. 
The  second,  three  leagues  to  the  north,  was  named  San  Nicolas, 
and  corresponds  fairly  well  to  Hobble  Creek  except  for  the  state- 
ment in  the  diary  that  it  contains  more  water  than  the  first  one, 
which  is  hardly  the  case.  However,  they  seem  to  have  left  the 
Aguascalientes  shortly  after  it  entered  the  open  plain  and  to  have 
struck  the  San  NicoMs  farther  down  in  the  valley  which  would 
make  it  appear  relatively  larger  than  if  compared  with  the 
Aguascalientes  at  the  same  distance  from  the  mountains.  Three 
and  a  half  leagues  farther  to  the  northwest  was  the  third  river, 
containing  more  water  than  the  other  two.  This  they  named 
San  Antonio  de  Padua.  It  is  clearly  the  present  Provo  River. 

18  There  seems  to  be  considerable  disagreement  as  to  the  route  followed  by  the 
party  after  leaving  the  summit.  Bancroft  has  them  coming  down  the  Provo  River 
which  he  imagines  they  called  the  Purisima.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  river  they 
called  the  Purisima  was  on  the  east  of  the  summit  and,  according  to  the  diary, 
runs  to  the  southeast  (sueste).  The  company  crossed  it  on  September  21  and 
then  climbed  to  the  summit  and,  on  the  23d,  descended  a  stream  running  to  the 
southwest  which  turned  to  the  west  as  it  joined  another  small  stream.  Just 
below  the  junction  of  the  two  were  a  number  of  hot  springs  which  suggested  the 
name  of  Aguascalientes  for  the  river.  They  continued  down  the  Aguascalientes 
to  the  open  plain  and  then  northwest  six  and  a  half  leagues  to  the  Indian  villages. 
These  various  details  and  the  daily  routes  traveled  and  the  directions  of  the  rivers 
seem  to  indicate  that  they  came  down  Diamond  Creek  to  its  junction  with  Spanish 
Fork  River  and  then  on  down  that  stream.  The  Castella  Hot  Springs  just  below 
the  mouth  of  Diamond  Creek  seem  to  make  this  conclusion  imperative. 


454  THE   HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

To  the  northwest  they  could  see  a  fourth  river  which  they  were 
told  carried  as  much  water  as  the  others.  They  named  this  the 
Rio  de  Santa  Ana,  but  did  not  visit  it.  It  was,  evidently,  the 
American  Fork  River  of  today.19 

The  valleys  of  these  rivers,  it  was  said,  contained  wide-spreading 
meadows  of  rich  irrigable  land  with  plenty  of  water  for  irriga- 
tion so  that  there  might  be  established  in  the  region  as  many 
pueblos  of  Indians  as  there  were  in  New  Mexico. 

The  Indians  were  said  to  be  good  featured.  They  spoke  the 
Yuta  language  but  with  a  noticeable  variation  of  accent. 
They  were  docile,  living  principally  upon  fish,  rabbits,  wild 
fowls,  seeds,  and  herbs.  They  were  but  poorly  clothed;  their 
most  decent  dress  being  a  shirt  or  jacket  of  buckskin  with 
moccasins  and  leggings  of  the  same  material.  For  cold  weather 
they  had  blankets  made  of  rabbit  skins.  Their  dwellings  were 
huts  made  of  willow  brush. 

The  Spaniards  were  told  of  a  larger  lake  of  salt  water  to  the 
north  with  which  this  one  connected,  but  they  did  not  visit  it. 
Obviously,  this  was  Great  Salt  Lake. 

After  spending  three  days  visiting  the  tribes  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  lake  as  far  north  as  Provo  River,  the  party  resumed 
its  journey  towards  Monterey.  Taking  a  course  south-southwest 

19  Bancroft  identifies  the  four  rivers  flowing  into  the  lake  as  follows:  "Their 
Aguascalientes",  he  says,  "is  Currant  Creek;  the  second,  their  San  Nicolas 
though  more  than  three  leagues  from  the  first,  and  not  corresponding  in  every 
other  particular,  is  the  Spanish  Fork  River;  the  San  Antonio  de  Pudua  is  the 
Provo;  and  the  Santa  Ana,  the  River  Jordan"  (History  of  Utah,  p.  14).  But  the 
diary  distinctly  states  that  the  party  entered  the  valley  along  the  Aguascalientes. 
How  they  could  have  done  this  if  Currant  Creek  were  the  Aguascalientes  Bancroft 
does  not  explain.  Furthermore  Spanish  Fork  River  is  at  too  great  a  distance 
from  Currant  Creek  to  be  the  San  Nicolas  if  Currant  Creek  be  the  Aguascalientes 
and  Provo  River  is  too  far  from  the  Spanish  Fork  to  be  the  third  if  the  Spanish 
Fork  be  the  second.  Also  looking  to  the  northwest  from  Provo  River  the  com- 
pany certainly  would  have  seen  the  American  Fork  instead  of  the  Jordan.  More- 
over, they  regarded  all  four  as  flowing  into  the  lake  whereas  the  Jordan  flows  out 
of  it.  Harris  identifies  the  four  rivers  as  follows:  The  Aguascalientes,  he  con- 
cludes, was  the  Spanish  Fork;  the  San  Nicolas,  the  Provo;  the  San  Antonio  de 
Padua,  the  American  Fork;  and  the  Santa  Ana,  the  Jordan  (The  Catholic  Church 
in  Utah,  p.  248).  The  objections  to  this  arrangement  is  the  fact  that  the  Provo 
is  at  too  great  a  distance  from  the  Spanish  Fork,  Hobble  Creek  is  ignored,  and 
the  Jordan  flows  in  the  wrong  direction. 


THE    OLD    SPANISH   TKAIL  455 

they  arrived  on  the  29th,  unexpectedly,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Sevier  River,  named  by  them  the  Santa  Isabel.  Here  they  made 
special  note  of  meeting  Indians  having  extra  thick  beards — 
"much  thicker",  they  said,  "than  those  of  the  Lagunas", — by 
which  circumstance  these  Indians  were  said  to  be  differentiated 
from  all  others  hitherto  known.20  From  the  statement  that  the 
territory  of  these  bearded  Indians  began  at  this  Santa  Isabel 
(Sevier)  River  it  is  possible  to  trace  more  definitely  the  routes  of 
later  expeditions  which  refer  to  these  Indians  as  the  Bearded 
Yutas. 

Crossing  the  Santa  Isabel  (Sevier)  River  near  the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Mills  they  traveled  south  about  five  leagues  and 
then  west  until  they  again  reached  the  Sevier  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  present  Oasis  and  Desert.  Here  they  turned  to  the  south- 
west, taking  the  course  at  present  followed  by  the  Los  Angeles 
and  Salt  Lake  Railroad  through  the  valley  of  Beaver  River. 

On  October  5,  when  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  town  of 
Blackrock,  their  Laguna  guide,  whom  they  had  secured  before 
leaving  Utah  Lake,  left  them  after  a  quarrel  with  members  of 
the  party.  To  add  to  their  difficulties,  a  heavy  snow  storm  set 
in,  which  brought  very  forcibly  to  their  minds  the  nearness  of 
the  approaching  winter.  Being  snowbound  and  out  of  provi- 
sions, on  October  8  they  recorded:  "The  winter  had  now  set  in 
with  great  rigor,  and  all  the  mountain  ranges  that  we  could  see 
were  covered  with  snow. "  They  began  to  realize  that  long  before 
they  could  reach  Monterey  the  mountain  passes  would  be  closed, 
and  they  feared  that  they  would  be  obliged  to  remain  some  two  or 
three  months  on  some  mountain  where  they  would  be  unable  to 
provide  themselves  with  the  necessary  food  to  sustain  life.  Under 
these  conditions  it  was  finally  decided  to  give  up  the  project  and 
return  to  Santa  Fe  by  way  of  the  Cosnina,  Moqui,  and  Zuni 
Indians.  It  was  hoped  that  in  this  way  a  better  road  might  be 
discovered  by  a  more  southern  route. 

But  without  a  guide  the  return  trip  was  no  simple  matter. 
Directing  their  course  to  the  south  through  Cedar  Valley,  down 
Ash  Creek,  and  across  the  Virgin  River  they  soon  reached  the 

20  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,  ser.  2,  tomo  1,  pp.  473,  476. 


456  THE   HISPANIC   AMEEICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

high  tablelands  of  the  canon  of  the  Colorado.  For  a  month 
they  wandered  over  extremely  difficult  trails  seeking  a  crossing 
of  the  great  river.  Finally  after  much  tribulation,  the  river  was 
crossed,  November  7,  at  a  point  about  thirty  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  the  San  Juan  just  north  of  the  Utah-Arizona  line. 
Concerning  the  crossing,  which  has  subsequently  been  known 
as  the  Crossing  of  the  Fathers,  the  record  says: 

The  ford  of  this  river  is  very  good;  it  is  a  little  more  than  a  mile  wide 
at  this  point  and  here  the  Navajo  and  Dolores  come  incorporated  with 
all  the  others  that  we  have  mentioned  in  this  diary  as  flowing  into 
either  of  them.21 

The  effort  was  now  made  to  find  the  Cosnina  Indian  villages, 
which,  however,  were  discovered  to  be  empty  when  they  were 
finally  reached  on  November  14 — the  Indians  apparently  being 
away  in  search  of  pine-nuts  in  the  adjacent  mountains.  On  the 
16th  the  party  arrived  at  the  town  of  Oraybi,  one  of  the  Moqui 
villages.  The  Moquis  both  here  and  at  the  towns  of  Xongopabi, 
Mossanganabi,  and  Gualpi  were  willing  to  supply  the  Spaniards 
with  provisions  and  help  them  on  their  way  but  were  not  willing 
to  treat  with  them  on  other  matters,  saying  that  they  wished  to 
be  friends  of  the  Spaniards  but  not  Christians. 

Leaving  the  Moqui  towns  on  November  20,  the  priests  with 
three  companions  hurried  on  to  the  Zuni  settlements  leaving  the 
rest  of  the  company  to  follow  more  leisurely  with  the  weaker 
animals.22  After  two  or  three  weeks  stay  at  Zuni  they  continued 
their  journey,  passing  through  San  Esteban  de  Acoma,  San 
Jose  de  la  Laguna,  Alamo,  San  Agustin  de  la  Isleta,  San  Francis- 
co Xavier  de  Albuquerque,  Nuestra  Senora  de  los  Dolores  de 
Sandia,  Santo  Domingo,23  and,  finally,  on  January  2,  1777, 
arrived  at  the  city  of  Santa  Fe. 

So  far  as  opening  a  road  to  California  was  concerned  the 
Dominguez-Escalante  expedition  was  a  failure.  But  by  means 

21  Id.,  p.  535. 

22  At  Zuni  the  priests  forwarded  a  report  of  their  travels  to  governor  Pedro 
Fermln  de  Mendinueta.    See  Bolton,  Guide,  p.  37,  and  Chapman,  Catalogue,  p.  434. 

23  All  the  stops  between  Zuni  and  Santa  Fe  were  referred  to  as  missions  except 
Alamo. 


THE    OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  457 

of  it  a  large  portion  of  the  interior  of  North  America  was  explored 
for  the  first  time  by  white  men,  the  Great  Basin  was  visited  and, 
the  Indian  tribes  about  Utah  Lake  and  the  Sevier  River  were 
made  friends  of  the  Spaniards. 

When  at  the  Timpanogos  settlements,  Dominguez  and  Esca- 
lante  had  promised  to  return  the  following  year  and  establish  a 
mission.  Indeed  this  was  given  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  not 
going  on  to  Monterey,  as  that  would  delay  the  establishment  of 
the  mission  too  long.24  But  it  seems  that  the  priests  were  unable 
to  convince  the  authorities  of  the  necessity  of  such  a  move,  and 
so  the  promise  was  not  fulfilled.  No  mission  was  established  in 
the  Great  Basin,  but,  as  we  shall  see  later,  Spaniards  from  New 
Mexico  continued  to  visit  that  region  for  the  purpose  of  trading 
with  the  Indians. 

ANZA'S   EXPEDITION   THROUGH  THE   SAN   LUIS   VALLEY,  1779. 

Up  to  this  time  travel  north  from  New  Mexico  and  west  of  the 
continental  divide  seems  to  have  taken  a  northwesterly  route 
around  the  southern  spur  of  the  La  Plata  Mountains  and  then 
northeasterly  along  the  western  slope  of  those  mountains  to  the 
Gunnison  River.25  So  far  as  is  known  no  white  man  had  passed 
through  the  San  Luis  Valley  until  Juan  Bautista  de  Anza  led 
an  expedition  there  in  1779.26 

The  occasion  ,  for  this  expedition  was  Indian  disturbances. 
The  Comanches  had  been  especially  troublesome  for  some  time. 
One  of  their  chiefs,  Cuerno  Verde,  (Green  Horn)  whose  father 
had  been  killed  in  an  encounter  with  the  Spaniard,  had  taken  it 

24  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,  se"r.  2,  tomo  1,  p.  484. 

25  East  of  the  continental  divide  there  had  been  a  number  of  expeditions  north 
from  New  Mexico  previous  to  this  time.     In  1706,  Juan  de  Uribarri  led  a  company 
over  the  mountains  from  Taos,  and  north  along  the  eastern  foothills  through 
Jicarilla,  thence  north  and  east  to  El  Cuartelejo  in  what  is  now  southeastern 
Colorado.     In  1719  Valverde,  governor  of  New  Mexico,  led  an  expedition  over 
very  much  the  same  ground  except  that  he  did  not  go  as  far  east  as  El  Cuartelejo. 
And  in  1720  the  fateful  Villasur  expedition  made  its  way  along  the  eastern  foot- 
hills to  about  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Morgan  on  the  South  Platte. 

26  Our  authority  for  this  expedition  is  Anza's  dairy  Ms.  in  the  Archive  General 
de  Mexico,  Secci6n  de  Historia,  Tomo  XXV,  no.  36,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  the  Ban- 
croft Library  (Doc.  para  la  historia  de  Nuevo  Mexico.  II.  861-922). 


458  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

upon  himself  to  avenge  his  father's  death.  He  had  led  numerous 
attacks  against  the  Spaniards,  "  killing  hundreds  and  taking  many 
prisoners  who  m  he  afterwards  sacrificed  in  cold  blood  ".  In  an 
effort  to  quell  these  disturbances  Anza,  who  had  recently  been  made 
governor  of  New  Mexico,  organized  an  expedition  against  the 
Comanches.  In  making  his  attack  he  says  that  he  selected  a 
different  route  from  that  by  which  all  previous  expeditions  against 
the  Comanches  had  been  made  in  order  that  he  might  not  be  dis- 
covered long  before  reaching  the  country  inhabited  by  the  enemy 
as  had  been  the  case  with  all  former  operations  against  them. 

With  an  army  of  645  men  he  set  out  from  Santa  Fe  on  the 
15th  of  August,  1779.  Following  the  Camino  Real  to  the  north- 
west and  north,  they  passed  through  San  Juan,  crossed  the  Rio 
del  Norte,  and  continued  to  Ojo  Caliente,  some  seven  leagues 
from  their  crossing,  where  the  Camino  Real  ended.  Between 
Ojo  Caliente  and  their  next  crossing  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the 
diary  mentions  passing  to  following  six  streams:  Las  Nutrias 
(Nutritas),  San  Antonio,  Conejos,  Las  Jaras  (La  Jara),  Los 
Timbres  (Rio  Alamosa),  and  San  Lorenzo  (Piedra  Pintada 
Creek). 

While  on  the  Rio  del  Norte,  Anza  took  occasion  to  record  a  few 
items  that  throw  light  on  the  geographic  information  of  the  time. 
He  says: 

This  river,  as  is  known,  empties  into  the  North  Sea  and  the  Bay  of 
Espiritu  Santo.  It  has  its  own  source  fifteen  leagues  or  a  little  more 
from  this  place  in  the  Sierra  de  la  Grulla  which  is  the  same  one  on  the 
skirts  of  which  we  have  traveled  since  the  17th  .  .  .  ,27  The  Yuta 
nation  accompanying  me,28  who  reside  at  the  said  source,  and  three 
civilians  who  have  explored  it,  tell  me  that  it  proceeds  from  the  interior 
of  a  great  swamp,  which  is  formed,  ...  by  the  constant  melting 
of  the  snow  on  some  mountain  peaks  that  are  very  near  it. 

The  same  persons  tell  me  that  after  crossing  fifteen  leagues  breadth 
of  the  land  seven  rivers  come  for  very  short  distances,  and  after  uniting 

27  For  a  description  of  La  Sierra  de  la  Grulla  (sometimes  called  La  Sierra  de 
las  Grullas)  see  above,  note  8. 

28  On  August  20,  while  on  the  Conejos,  two  hundred  Yutas  and  Apaches  had 
joined  the  expedition. 


THE    OLD    SPANISH   TRAIL  459 

they  form  one  of  considerable  size  which  flows  to  the  west.  This  river 
.  .  .  I  judge  to  be  the  river  called  Colorado,  which,  after  uniting 
with  the  Gila,  empties  into  the  Gulf  of  California,  where,  among  the 
nations  which  live  on  it  and  with  whom  I  have  communicated  in  my 
journeys  there,  I  have  received  information  quite  circumstantial  of 
the  Yuta  nation  from  which  I  infer  that  the  two  are  not  far  distant 
from  each  other.29 

Anza  further  said  that  the  three  civilians  mentioned  above  ex- 
plored the  said  seven  rivers  by  order  of  Governor  Don  Tomas 
Velez.  They  were,  therefore,  probably  members  of  the  Rivera 
party. 

From  the  Rio  del  Norte  the  company  proceeded  north  through 
the  San  Luis  Valley,30  and  then  crossed  the  mountains  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Arkansas  River,  where,  by  coming  upon  the 
Comanches  from  the  north  Anza  was  able  to  surprise  and  defeat 
them.  The  location  is  still  recorded  in  the  name  of  the 
Greenhorn  (Cuerno  Verde)  Mountains.  He  then  recrossed  the 
divide31  and  continued  south  along  the  foothills  to  Taos  and 
Santa  Fe". 

29  Doc.   para  la  Historia  de  Nuevo  Mexico,  II.  872. 

30  It  is  difficult  to  trace  the  exact  route  of  the  expedition  through  the  San  Luis 
Valley.     Judging  from  the  course  pursued  from  the  time  the  company  crossed 
the  Rio  del  Norte  near  San  Juan  until  they  reached  it  again  at  the  point  they 
named  El  Paso  de  San  Bartolome,  the  latter  place  must  have  been  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  Del  Norte.     From  San   Bartolome  the  journal  states  that   they 
traveled  four  leagues  to  the  north  and  then  four  to  the  north-northwest  when 
they  arrived  at  a  beautiful  lake  (cienega)  which  they  named  San  Luis.     If  the 
present  San  Luis  lake  is  meant  the  direction  traveled  must  be  inaccurate.     Fur- 
thermore, there  is  no  place  on  the  Del  Norte  from  which  they  could  have  reached 
the  San  Luis  Lake  after  traveling  the  given  distance  and  directions.     There  seems 
to  be  a  mistake  in  the  direction  given.     San  Luis  Lake  is  about  due  east  from 
where  they  must  have  crossed  the  river.     But  notwithstanding  the  confusion  at 
this  point,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  they  proceeded  north  until  the  mountains 
on  the  west  (La  Grulla)  and  the  ones  on  the  east  (Sierra  Almagre)  approach  each 
other  so  closely  that  there  is  nothing  but  a  canon  between  them.     It  was  here 
that  the  crossing  was  made  to  the  waters  of  the  Napeste  (Arkansas). 

31  There  is  confusion  again  at  this  point.    The  diary  states  that  they  reached 
the  arroyo  of  La  Sangre  de  Cristo  on  September  3,  and  that  they  crossed  the 
divide  the  following  day  and  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  arrived  at  the  place 
of  the  lake  (al  sitio  de  la  cienega).     It  seems  that  they  must  have  called  one  of 
the  tributaries  of  Hue>fano  River  the  arroyo  of  La  Sangre  de  Cristo  and  that 
they  must  have  crossed  the  mountains  by  either  the  Sand  Hill  or  Mosca  Pass 
and  not  by  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  Pass  as  would  naturally  be  supposed  from  reading 
the  diary. 


460  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

This  was  the  last  official  expedition  north  or  northwest  of  New 
Mexico  during  the  period  in  which  Spain  held  control  of  which  we 
have  any  record.  The  reason  for  this  apparent  lack  of  interest 
in  the  region  may  not  be  difficult  to  understand  when  one  looks 
at  the  activities  of  Spain  as  a  whole.  The  strained  European  condi- 
tions, the  war  with  England  which  directed  attention  to  the 
Mississippi  valley  and  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  increasing 
demand  for  protection  of  California  and  the  Pacific  northwest 
gave  little  time  for  further  exploration  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region.  The  fact,  also,  that  no  important  pueblos  had  been 
found  tended  to  cool  the  ardor  for  governmental  activity. 

CONTINUED   ACTIVITY   OF   INDIAN   TRADERS    IN    THE    GREAT   BASIN 

But  the  Indian  trader  usually  knew  or  cared  little  about  inter- 
national affairs.  Nor  was  he  dismayed  by  not  finding  Indian 
pueblos.  He  was  frequently  of  that  type  of  individual  who  cared 
little  for  settled  life  and  was  just  as  much  at  home  with  a  tribe 
of  roving  Indians  as  in  the  more  highly  civilized  pueblos.  To 
him  the  Yutas  along  the  tributaries  of  the  Colorado  and  in  the 
Great  Basin  offered  opportunities  for  both  a  life  and  living  which 
were  highly  suitable  to  his  inclinations.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
at  least  as  early  as  the  time  of  Domlnguez  and  Escalante  traders 
were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  Yutas  and  staying  with  them  for 
months  at  a  time  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  peltries.  That 
these  activities  continued  there  can  be  but  little  doubt,  although, 
for  the  next  twenty-five  years  or  so  we  have  slender  data  on  which 
to  make  any  very  definite  statements  At  the  end  of  that  time, 
however,  there  are  a  few  documents  which  enable  us  to  pick  up 
the  thread  again. 

On  September  1,  1805,  Joaquin  de  Real  Alencaster  who  had  but 
recently  become  governor  of  New  Mexico,  in  writing  to  the  com- 
mandant-general on  the  merits  of  a  Yuta  interpreter  says : 
"  Manuel  Mestas,  a  Genizaro,  seventy  years  old  who,  for  approxi- 
mately fifty  years  has  served  as  Yuta  interpreter,  was  the  one 
who  reduced  them  to  peace,"  and  further  in  recounting  Mestas 's 
virtues  Alencaster  says : 


THE    OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  461 

In  the  short  time  that  I  have  governed  this  province,  he  has  recovered 
from  the  aforesaid  heathen  eight  horses  which  he  himself  searched  for 
and  brought  back.  In  the  month  of  July  he  went  back  to  the  country 
of  the  aforesaid  people  and  not  only  succeeded  in  bringing  back  eleven 
mules  and  horses,  but,  according  to  the  report  of  other  Yutas,  called 
Jimpipas,  shortly  started  out  on  a  trip  of  about  a  month's  duration  for 
the  purpose  of  retaking,  not  only  the  aforesaid  eleven  animals,  but  also 
twenty  mules  and  eight  horses,  which  among  other  things,  had  been 
stolen  from  men  of  this  province  last  year  in  the  country  of  the  said 
Jimpipas,  by  Cumanches,  and  were  retaken  by  the  Yutas  Timpanagos 
during  a  war  with  the  aforesaid  Cumanches. 

It  seems  from  this  that  Mestas  had  set  out  for  the  land  of  the 
Timpanogos  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  the  animal  stolen  from 
the  Spaniards  by  the  Comanches  and  retaken  by  the  Timpano- 
gos.32 

On  November  20,  1805,  Alencaster  again  wrote  to  the  com- 
mandant-general informing  him  that  Mestas  had  returned 

without  recovering  more  than  nine  animals,  since  the  pack  mules  of 
which  he  went  in  search,  as  a  result  of  the  cruel  war  which  the  Caiguas 
(Kiowas)  were  waging  against  the  Yutas  Timpanagos,  in  an  attack, 
had  been  captured  by  the  Caiguas.33 

These  communications  suggest  more  or  less  continual  inter- 
course between  the  Spaniards  of  New  Mexico  and  the  Yutas, 
some  of  which  seems  to  have  been  carried  as  far  as  the  Tim- 
panogos, that  is,  to  the  Utah  Lake  region  of  today. 

THE   ARZE    EXPEDITION   TO   RIO    SEBERO    (SEVIER   RIVER),    1813 

Recently  I  have  discovered  a  document  in  the  Spanish  Archives 
of  New  Mexico,  now  located  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  which 
throws  new  light  upon  the  activities  of  the  period.  It  gives  an 
account  of  a  trading  expedition  to  the  Timpanogos  and  the 

32  Alencaster   to   Commandant-General   Saloedo,    September   1,    1805     (Ms. 
Spanish  Archives  of  New  Mex.,  Library  of  Congress;  photographic  copy  in  Ban- 
croft Library;  c/.,  Twitchell,  Spanish  Archives  of  New  Mexico,  II.  478 — no.  1881). 

33  Alencaster  to  Commandant-general  Salcedo,   November  20,   1805.     (Ms. 
Spanish  Archives  of  New  Mex.,  Lib.  of  Congress;  photographic  copy  in  Bancroft 
Library;  c/.,  Twitchell,  Spanish  Archives  of  New  Mexico,  II.  487— (no.  1925). 


462  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

Bearded  Yutas  west  of  the  Sevier  River  in  the  year  1813.  The 
company  consisted  of  seven  men  under  the  command  of  Mauricio 
Arze  and  Lagos  Garcia.  They  left  Abiquiu  on  the  sixteenth  of 
March,  1813,  and  returned  to  that  place  after  a  trip  of  some 
four  months,  on  the  twelfth  of  July.  On  the  first  of  September, 
the  governor  of  New  Mexico,  having  received  information  regard- 
ing the  affair  ordered  the  members  of  the  party  to  appear  before 
Manuel  Garcia  as  alcalde  of  the  " Villa  de  Santa  Cruz  de  la 
Canada"  and  report  what  had  taken  place  on  the  trip.  Be- 
tween the  sixth  and  tenth  of  the  month  affidavits  were  sworn  to 
by  the  following  five  members  of  the  party:  Miguel  Tenorio, 
Felipe  G6mez,  Josef  Santiago  Vejil,  (Vigil),  Gabriel  Quintana, 
and  Josef  Velasquez.34 

In  the  main  these  affidavits  duplicate  each  other,  with  only 
here  and  there  a  unique  detail.  None  of  the  accounts  give  any 
particulars  as  to  the  route  followed  between  Abiquiu  and  the  lake 
of  the  Timpanogos,  possibly  because  that  route  was  so  well 
known  that  nothing  needed  to  be  said.  The  company  remained 
at  the  lake  of  the  Timpanogos  three  days  carrying  on  a  little 
trade  while  waiting  for  the  Indians  of  two  rancherias  to  come 
together.  When  all  were  assembled  a  council  was  held,  but,  if 
we  may  rely  upon  the  statements  of  the  Spaniards  in  their 
affidavits,  the  Indians  would  trade  nothing  but  Indian  slaves, 
"as  they  had  done  on  other  occasions",35  the  documents  add. 
This  the  Spaniards  refused  to  do.  Whereupon  some  of  the 
Indians  fell  upon  the  horses  of  the  Spaniards  and  began  killing 
them.  Before  they  could  be  stopped  eight  horses  and  a  mule 
had  been  killed,  when  one  of  the  chiefs  succeeded  in  quieting  his 
people  and  stopping  the  slaughter.  Warned  by  this  injury  the 
Spaniards  collected  their  remaining  horses  and,  after  standing 
guard  over  them  all  night,  set  out  on  the  following  day  for  Rio 
Sebero  (Sevier  River). 

Here  they  met  a  Yuta  of  the  Sanpuchi  (Sanpete)  nation  who 
promised  to  take  them  to  a  place  where  they  could  trade  with  a 

34  The  document  has  no  title,  but  is  listed  by  Twitchell  as  number  2511  in  his 
Spanish  Archives  of  New  Mexico,  II.  577.    A  photographic  copy  is  in  the  Bancroft 
Library. 

35  "Como  lo  abian  verificado  en  otras  ocasiones." 


THE    OLD    SPANISH   TKAIL  463 

tribe  of  Yutas  as  yet  unknown  to  them.  Two  of  the  company, 
Felipe  G6mez  and  Gabriel  Quintana,  were  left  in  charge  of  the 
pack  train  while  the  other  five,  guided  by  the  Sanpuchi,  set  out 
to  the  west.  After  traveling  three  days  they  came  upon  a  tribe 
of  Indians  who  were  characterized  as  having  heavy  beards,  clearly 
the  bearded  Indians  of  the  Dominguez-Escalante  journal,  whose 
territory  we -are  there  told  began  at  the  Rio  Santa  Isabel  (the 
Sevier  of  today).36 

Dominguez  and  Escalante  had  found  these  Indians  very  gentle 
and  affable,  but  now  they  met  the  Spaniards  with  u  their  arms 
in  their  hands,  saying  their  trade  would  be  arrows".  They  were 
finally  quieted,  however,  and  arrangements  were  made  to  trade 
on  the  following  day.  But  in  the  evening  the  Spaniards  over- 
heard the  Indians  discussing  a  plan  by  which  they  proposed  to  kill 
their  visitors.  Taking  advantage  of  this  information  the  Spaniard 
stole  away 

travelling  stealthily  all  night  and  day  until  they  reached  the  place 
where  their  companions  and  pack  train  were.  Thence  they  took  the 
road  to  the  Rio  Grande,  (Colorado)37  on  which  they  found  the  little 
rancheria  of  Guasache,  who  was  waiting  on  the  road  to  trade  with  them 
as  was.  his  custom. 

At  the  rancherfa  of  Guasache  the  party  met  with  the  same  sort 
of  treatment  that  they  had  received  on  the  other  portions  of 
their  trip.  At  first  they  were  treated  kindly  but  when  they  re- 
fused to  trade  for  the  Indian  slaves  offered  them,  the  Indians  took 
offense.  This  time,  however,  the  commandant,  having  been 
informed  of  the  extremity  of  the  resentment  of  the  Indians, 
called  his  men  together  and  gave  them  permission  to  purchase  the 
slaves,  "in  order,"  as  the  affidavits  state  "not  to  receive 
another  injury  like  the  past  one."  As  a  result  of  this  decision, 
twelve  slaves  were  bought,  after  which  the  Spaniards  continued 
their  journey  with  no  other  incident  worthy  of  note  except  the 
loss  of  a  mule  and  a  horse  by  drowning  in  crossing  the  Rio  Grande 
(Colorado). 

36  Doc.  para  la  hist,  de  Mex.,  2  se>.  I.  473,  476. 

37  The  Rio  Grande  here,  and  usually  during  this  period,  refers  to  the  Colorado, 
not  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte. 


464  THE    HISPANIC   AMEKICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

Besides  the  slaves  mentioned  above,  the  Spaniards  collected 
on  their  trip  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  nine  skins.  This, 
however,  was  stated  to  be  "but  a  few".  None  of  the  statements 
tell  what  kind  they  were. 

That  the  country  over  which  the  company  had  traveled  was 
fairly  well  known  seems  to  be  implied  from  the  fact  that  nothing 
to  the  contrary  is  stated  and  that  no  difficulties  regarding  the 
route  are  mentioned.  The  only  place  where  they  speak  of  having 
had  a  guide  was  from  the  Rio  Sebero  to  the  Bearded  Indians. 

These,  it  was  stated,  were  unknown  to  the  traders  which  seems 
to  imply  that  the  traders  were  at  least  somewhat  acquainted 
with  the  others  whom  they  visited. 

AMERICAN   TRADERS   WITH    THE    SPANIARDS    ON    THE    COLORADO38 

By  1824,  Americans  from  Missouri  were  trapping  and  trading 
with  the  Indians  in  the  mountains  along  the  tributaries  of  the 
Colorado  and  Green  rivers,  and  it  is  frequently  supposed  that  the 
Spaniards  had  given  way  to  the  more  aggressive  traders  from  the 
United  States.  This  is  hardly  a  correct  statement  of  the  case, 
however.  While  it  is  true  that  American  traders  built  up  an  ex- 
tensive industry  on  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  with  Santa  Fe 
as  a  supply  base  and  that  they  continued  active  in  that  region 
and  from  there  to  California  for  the  next  twenty  years  or  more, 
it  is  also  true  that  Spaniards  from  New  Mexico  carried  on  an 
important  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  same  region  all  during 
that  period. 

THE   ARMIJO   EXPEDITION  TO   CALIFORNIA,    1829 

One  of  the  factors  of  prime  importance  in  the  opening  of  the 
trails  to  the  far  west  at  this  time  was  the  Missouri-Santa  F6 
trade  and  its  demand  for  mules.  California  had  great  numbers 
of  mules  which  were  noted  for  their  size  and  quality.  This  led 
to  the  organization  of  numerous  expeditions  to  that  country  in 

38  A  suggestive  article  on  the  activities  of  the  Americans  in  this  region  was 
published  by  Dr.  T.  M.  Marshall  in  the  Southwestern  Historical  Quarterly  for 
January,  1916  (XIX,  251-260.) 


THE   OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  465 

the  effort  to  supply  the  demand  of  the  Missouri  traders.  Perhaps 
the  first  of  these  expeditions  was  the  one  led  by  Antonio  Armijo. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1829- '30,  a  company  of  some  sixty 
Mexican  traders  under  the  command  of  Antonio  Armijo  succeeded, 
in  opening  a  road  from  New  Mexico  to  California  by  a  route 
north  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado.  The  expedition  set 
out  from  Abiquiu  on  November  7,  1829,  and  arrived  at  the 
mission  of  San  Gabriel  on  January  31,  1830.  After  a  month 
spent  in  California  the  return  journey  was  begun  March  1st  and 
completed  April  25  when  the  party  reached  Jemez,  New  Mexico.39 

Armijo,  instead  of  following  the  Rivera  and  Dominguez-Esca- 
lante  trail  (the  "Old  Spanish  Trail")  northwest  to  the  Navaj6, 
Dolores  and  Gunnison  rivers  took  a  more  southerly  route  west 
from  Abiquiu  to  Canon  Largo  and  down  that  stream  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  San  Juan.  Crossing  the  San  Juan  he  proceeded 
down  the  valley  (a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  river)  across 
Las  Animas  and  La  Plata  rivers  and  as  far  as  the  Mancos,  which 
he  descended  to  its  junction  with  the  San  Juan.  Here  he  re- 
crossed  the  San  Juan  and  directed  his  course  to  the  west  across 
Rfo  de  Chelly  to  the  Colorado  which  he  crossed  on  the  eighth  of 
December  at  the  "Ford  of  the  Fathers",  apparently  the  one  used 
by  Dominguez  and  Escalante  on  their  return  from  the  Great 
Basin  in  1776.  Here  the  party  turned  to  the  north  and  on  the 
twentieth  reached  "Rio  Severo".  For  the  next  ten  days  they 
seem  to  have  directed  their  course,  in  a  general  way,  down  the 
Sevier  River  to  its  outlet  in  SevierLake  which  their  itinerary  men- 
tions on  December  29.  On  the  first  of  January  they  reached  what 
they  supposed  to  be  the  Rio  Grande  (Colorado)  but  which  prob- 
ably was  the  Virgin  River. 

Here  an  item  of  more  than  ordinary  interest  occurred.  Upon 
the  return  of  the  scouting  party  which  had  been  out  reconnoiter- 
ing  it  was  learned  that  one,  Rafael  Rivera,  was  missing.  Several 
days  were  spent  h>  search  for  him  as  the  party  moved  down  the 

39  Antonio  Armijo,  Itineraire  du  Nord-Mexico  a  la  Haute-California,  parcouru 
en  1829  et  1830  par  soixante  Mexicains.  (Bulletin  de  la  societe  de  geographic,  Paris, 
1835,  ser.  2,  III.  316-323).  This  was  first  published  in  Spanish  in  the  Registro 
oficial  del  gobierno  de  los  Estados-Unidos  mexicanos  (Mexico,  1830). 


466  THE    HISPANIC   AMEEICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

river,  but  without  success.  On  January  7  he  came  into  camp 
with  the  report  that  "he  had  examined  the  ford  where  he  had 
crossed  the  Rio  Grande  the  .preceeding  year  in  going  to  Sonora}>. 
It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  he  had  just  made  the  trip  from 
California  to  New  Mexico  by  way  of  Sonora,  but  of  his  expedi- 
tion we  have  no  other  information.  Nor  is  it  stated  what 
influence  he  had  in  directing  the  course  of  the  present  expedi- 
tion. The  fact,  however,  that  he  was  acting  as  one  of  the 
scouting  party  suggests  that  possibly  he  was  more  than  just  an 
ordinary  member. 

The  day  following  Rivera 's  return  was  spent  in  reconnoiter- 
ing  after  which  the  party  set  out  to  the  west  across  the  Mohave 
Desert  and  along  the  Mohave  River  to  the  San  Bernardino 
Mountains  which  they  crossed  through  the  "San  Bernardino 
Canon"  (Cajon  Pass)  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  January.  Three 
days  later  they  arrived  at  the  San  Gabriel  Mission. 

Of  their  return  journey,  which  was  made  in  a  month  less  time 
than  the  outgoing  trip,  nothing  is  known  except  that  it  began  on 
the  first  of  March  and  ended  at  J£mez,  New  Mexico,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  April. 

The  expedition,  as  has  been  intimated,  had  been  made  for  the 
purpose  of  trading  New  Mexican  products  for  California  mules. 
What  the  outcome  was,  is  not  stated  but  the  inference  is  that  it 
was  fairly  successful.  It  at  least  made  clear  the  possibility  of 
direct  overland  communication  between  the  two  provinces,  each 
of  which  contained  commodities  such  as  to  stimulate  trade. 

AMERICANS   OPEN   ROAD   TO    CALIFORNIA   ALONG   SO-CALLED 
OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL,    1829 

American  traders  soon  followed  the  example  of  Armijo.  In 
fact  one  company,  led  by  Ewing  Young  of  Tennessee,  seems  to 
have  made  the  trip  at  about  the  same  time  that  Armijo  did. 
But  we  have  no  contemporary  account  of  this  expedition.  J.  J. 
Warner,  writing  some  forty  or  fifty  years  later,  says: 

In  1829  Ewing  Young  of  Tennessee,  who  had  traded  in  New  Mexico, 
and  had  also  trapped  beaver  in  the  northern  part  of  that  territory, 


THE    OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  467 

fitted  out  a  trapping  party  at  Taos,  traveled  westerly  to  the  tributaries 
of  Grande  River,  and  down  that  river  and  across  Green  River,  entering 
California  upon  the  Jedediah  S.  Smith  trail.  In  the  valley  he  found 
Ogden  with  his  large  party  of  trappers  from  Fort  Vancouver.  After 
spending  some  little  time  on  the  streams  emptying  into  Tulare  Valley 
lakes  and  upon  the  San  Joaquin  River  and  its  affluents,  he  came  into 
the  settlements  of  California  with  his  party.40 

Bancroft  Library 

After  remaining  a  few  days  at  Los  Angeles  he  returned  to 
New  Mexico  reaching  Taos  in  the  summer  of  1830. 

From  this  account  of  the  expedition  it  appears  that  Young  led 
his  party  over  the  trail  which  later  became  known  as  the  "Old 
Spanish  trail .  to  California'7.  As  already  stated,  this  is 
evidently  a  misnomer.  There  was  no  old  Spanish  trail  to 
California,  through  this  region.  Apparently  the  first  expe- 
ditions to  make  their  way  from  New  Mexico  to  California 
by  routes  north  of  the  Grand  Qafion  of  the  Colorado 
were  made,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1829-1830, 
when  the  region  was  Mexican  rather  than  Spanish  territory. 
Even  then,  of  the  two  expeditions  making  the  trip  at  that  time 
only  one  could  be  said  to  be  really  Mexican.  The  other  was  led 
by  an  American  from  Tennessee  and,  while  it  contained  a  number 
of  native  New  Mexicans,  it  was  perhaps  more  American  than 
Mexican.  Of  these  two  companies  it  was  the  American  com- 
pany that  made  its  way  over  the  so-called  "Old  Spanish  Trail". 
The  Mexican  party  went  somewhat  to  the  south  of  that  trail. 

The  confusion  of  names  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the  fact 
that  expeditions  from  New  Mexico  to  California  in  the  second 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  usually  traveled  to  the  vicinity 

40  Reminiscence  of  Early  California,  in  Hist.  Soc.  of  Southern  Gal.,  Annual 
publications,  1907-1908  (Los  Angeles  1909),  p.  184.  See  also  An  historical  sketch 
of  Los  Angeles  county,  California  (1876),  by  J.  J.  Warner,  Benj.  Hayes,  and  J.  P. 
Widney.  Here  (p.  18)  Warner  says:  "In  1828-1829  Ewing  Young,  of  Tennessee, 
who  had  for  some  seasons  been  engaged  in  trapping  beaver  in  the  north  of  New 
Mexico,  made  a  hunt  in  the  Tulare  Valley  and  on  the  waters  of  the  San  Joaquin." 
.  .  .  If  his  statement,  however,  in  his  Reminiscences,  namely,  that  he  met 
Ogden  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  be  correct,  his  expedition  must  have  been  made 
in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1829-1830  instead  of  1828-1829,  since  the  published  journal 
of  Ogden  for  1828-1829  shows  clearly  that  Ogden  was  not  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 
that  season.  Cf.  Oregon  Historical  Society,  Quarterly,  XI.  381-396  (1909). 


468  THE   HISPANIC  AMERICAN   HISTORICAL  REVIEW 

of  the  Colorado  along  the  trail  that  had  been  used  by  the  Span- 
iards since  the  time  of  Rivera  (1765)  in  their  trade  with  the  Yutas 
in  the  Great  Basin,  and  which  had  thus  become  known  as  the 
Old  Spanish  Trail.  But  the  Old  Spanish  Trail,  properly  so- 
called,  extended  only  to  the  Indians  of  the  Great  Basin  and  not  to 
California. 

Upon  the  return  of  Ewing  Young  to  New  Mexico  in  1830, 
he  and  William  Wolfskill,  a  native  of  Kentucky  but  coming  to 
New  Mexico  from  Missouri,  fitted  out  another  party  at  Taos  for 
the  purpose  of  trapping  on  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento 
rivers  from  which  Young  had  but  recently  returned.  According 
to  Warner,41  they  followed  a  westerly  course  from  Taos  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  San  Juan  River,  which  they  descended  a  short 
distance  and  then,  turning  more  northerly,  they  fell  upon  the 
tributaries  of  Grand  River,  which  they  followed  until  it  turned 
nearly  south.  Here  they  left  it  and  traveled  westerly  to  Green 
River  which  they  crossed  and  followed  down  to  its  junction  with 
the  Grand,  where  it  takes  the  name  of  Colorado.  Continuing 
down  the  Colorado  fifty  miles  or  more  and  finding  that  it  ran  into 
a  canon  and  was  so  walled  in  as  to  be  unapproachable,  they  left 
the  neighborhood  of  the  river  and  took  a  westerly  course  to  the 
Sevier,  from  which  their  route  led  southwest  toward  California. 
But  becoming  entangled  in  the  irregular  mountains,  enveloped 
in  snow,  and  suffering  from  cold  and  scarcity  of  food,  the  company 
composed  of  various  discordant  elements — New  Mexicans,  Ameri- 
cans, St.  Louis  Frenchmen,  and  Canadians — became  demoralized 
and  disorganized  and  was  forced  to  abandon  its  route  for  one 
farther  to  the  south.  They  finally  crossed  the  mountains  through 
the  Cajon  Pass  and  reached  the  Pueblo  of  Los  Angeles  in  Febru- 
ary, 1831. 

Some  of  the  New  Mexicans  had  taken  a  number  of  woolen 
blankets  with  them  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians, 
but  which  they  now  found  they  could  dispose  of  to  a  very  good 
advantage  to  the  Calif ornians  in  exchange  for  mules.  "The 
appearance  of  these  mules  in  New  Mexico",  says  Warner,  "owing 
to  their  large  size,  compared  with  those  at  that  time  used  in  the 

41  Reminiscences  of  Early  California,  p.  185. 


THE   OLD   SPANISH  TRAIL  469 

Missouri  and  Santa  F£  trade,  and  their  very  fine  form,  as  well  as 
the  price  at  which  they  had  been  bought  in  barter  for  blankets, 
caused  quite  a  sensation  in  New  Mexico,  out  of  which  sprang 
up  a  trade,  carried  on  by  means  of  caravans  of  pack  animals, 
between  the  two  sections  of  the  same  country,  which  flourished 
for  some  ten  or  twelve  years.  These  caravans  reached  California 
yearly  during  the  before  mentioned  time.  They  brought  the 
woolen  fabrics  of  New  Mexico,  and  carried  back  mules,  and  silk 
and  other  Chinese  goods." 

Los  Angeles  was  the  central  point  in  California  of  the  New  Mexican 
trade.  Coming  by  the  northern  or  Green  and  Virgin  River  routes, 
the  caravans  came  through  Cajon  Pass  and  reached  Los  Angeles.  From 
thence  they  scattered  themselves  over  the  county  from  San  Diego  to 
San  Jose,  and  across  the  bay  to  Sonoma  and  San  Rafael.  Having 
bartered  and  disposed  of  the  goods  brought,  and  procured  such  as 
they  wished  to  carry  back,  and  what  mules  they  could  drive,  they  con- 
centrated at  Los  Angeles  for  their  yearly  return.42 

Warner  seems  not  to  have  known  of  the  Armijo  expedition  of 
1829-30  but  gives  Young  and  Wolf  skill  the  entire  credit  for 
inaugurating  the  growing  trade  between  California  and  New 
Mexico.  This  may  have  been  because  Warner,  at  the  time,  was 
at  Taos,  and  the  expeditions  to  which  he  refers  left  that  section, 
whereas  Armijo  left  Abiquiii.  The  movement,  however,  was 
more  or  less  general  and  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  Missouri 
trade  with  New  Mexico. 

The  task  undertaken  by  Dominguez  and  Escalante  some  fifty 
years  before  had  at  last  been  accomplished.  Direct  communica- 
tion between  New  Mexico  and  California  had  been  established 
by  way  of  the  Great  Basin. 

CONTINUED  ACTIVITY  OF  THE  MEXICANS  AMONG  THE  YUTAS  OF  THE 

GREAT  BASIN. 

For  the  next  twenty  years  Santa  F6  was  a  recognized  supply 
base  for  the  Rocky  Mountain  fur  trade.  Enterprising  Americans 
like  Robidoux  carried  on  an  extensive  commerce  along  the  trib- 

42  An  historical  sketch  of  Los  Angeles  County,  p.  18. 


470  THE    HISPANIC   AMERICAN   HISTORICAL   REVIEW 

utaries  of  the  Colorado  and  Green  Rivers,  transporting  a  large 
portion  of  their  furs  to  Santa  Fe  where  they  procured  their  out- 
fits and  supplies.  Miles  M.  Goodyear,  in  1841,  is  supposed  to 
have  obtained  a  Mexican  grant  for  the  region  now  known  as 
Ogden  and  to  have  stocked  it  as  a  rancho  with  sheep,  goats, 
cattle,  and  horses  from  Mexico.  But  not  all  of  the  trade  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Americans.  Even  after  the  Mormons  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  Great  Salt  Lake  Valley  companies  of 
Mexican  traders  continued  to  frequent  that  region.  Friction 
between  these  parties  and  the  Mormon  authorities  is  responsible 
for  a  number  of  documents  throwing  light  on  the  activities  of 
the  Mexican  traders  of  the  period.  Some  of  these  may  be  here 
noted.  In  the  preamble  of  a  law  "for  the  further  relief  of  Indian 
slaves  and  prisoners",  passed  by  the  Utah  legislature  January 
31,  1852,43  it  was  stated  that 

From  time  immemorial,  the  practice  of  purchasing  Indian  women  and 
children,  of  the  Utah  tribe  of  Indians  by  Mexican  traders,  has  been 
indulged  in,  and  carried  on  by  those  respective  people,  until  the  In- 
dians consider  it  an  allowable  traffic,  and  frequently  offer  their  prisoners 
or  children  for  sale;  .... 

A  little  over  a  year  later,  under  date  of  April  23,  1853,  Brigham 
Young,  as  governor  of  Utah,  saw  fit  to  issue  the  following  procla- 
mation :44 

Whereas  it  is  made  known  to  me  by  reliable  information,  from  affida- 
vits, and  various  other  sources,  that  there  is  in  this  Territory  a  horde 
of  Mexicans,  or  outlandish  men,  who  are  infesting  the  settlements, 
stirring  up  the  Indians  to  make  aggressions  upon  the  inhabitants, 
and  who  are  also  furnishing  the  Indians  with  guns,  ammunition,  etc., 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  this  Territory  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States : 

43  Utah,  Laws  , statutes,  etc.,  Acts,  resolutions  and  memorials  (Great  Salt  Lake 
City,  1855),  p.  171. 

44  This  proclamation  appeared  in  the  Deseret  News  of  April  30, 1853,  (see  Ban- 
croft, History  of  Utah,  p.  476)  and  from  that  was  translated  and  published  in  an 
extended  editorial,  by  La  Crdnica  de  Nueva-York  from  which  it  was  copied  by 
El  Siglo  Diez  y  Nueve  (Mexico) ,  in  its  issue  of  July  16,  1853.     It  is  reproduced  in 
O.  F.  Whitney,  Hist,  of  Utah  (Salt  Lake  City,  1892),  I.  512.    On  July  20,  1853, 
El  Siglo  Diez  y  Nueve  devoted  its  entire  front  page  to  the  subject  in  opposition 
to  the  action  taken  by  the  Governor  of  Utah. 


THE   OLD   SPANISH   TRAIL  471 

And  whereas  it  is  evident  that  it  is  the  intention  of  these  Mexicans 
or  foreigners  to  break  the  laws  of  this  Territory  and  the  United  States, 
utterly  regardless  of  every  restriction,  furnishing  Indians  with  guns 
and  powder,  whenever  and  wherever  it  suits  their  designs,  convenience, 
or  purposes: 

Therefore,  I,  Brigham  Young,  Governor  and  Superintendent  of  In- 
dian affairs  for  the  Territory  of  Utah,  in  order  to  preserve  peace,  quell 
the  Indians  and  secure  the  lives  and  property  of  the  citizens  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, hereby  order  and  direct  as  follows: 

1st.  That  a  small  detachment  consisting  of  thirty  men,  under  the 
charge  of  Captain  Wall,  proceed  south  through  the  entire  extent  of 
the  settlements  reconnoitering  the  country  and  directing  the  inhabit- 
ants to  be  on  their  guard  against  any  sudden  surprise. 

3rd.  The  officer  and  party  hereby  sent  upon  this  service  are  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  arrest  and  keep  in  close  custody  every 
strolling  Mexican  party,  and  those  associating  with  them  .  .  .  and 
leave  them  safely  guarded  at  the  different  points  of  settlement  to  await 
further  orders  .  .  . 

5th.  All  Mexicans  now  in  the  Territory  are  required  to  remain  quiet 
in  the  settlements  and  not  attempt  to  leave  under  any  consideration, 
until  further  advised;  and  the  officers  of  the  Territory  are  hereby 
directed  to  keep  them  in  safe  custody,  treating  them  with  kindness 
and  supplying  their  necessary  wants 

SLAVE   BUYING  EXPEDITION  TO  THE   GREAT  BASIN  LED  BY  PEDRO 

LE6N,  1851 

A  single  specific  case  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  practice  which 
seems,  from  the  documents  quoted,  to  have  been  a  rather  common 
custom.  On  November  15,  1851,  the  Deseret  News  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  one  Pedro  Le6n  and  a  party  of  about  twenty 
Mexicans  were  at  Manti  in  Sanpete  valley  for  the  purpose  of 
trading  horses  for  Indian  children  and  that  he  had  a  license 
dated  Santa  Fe*  August  14,  1851,  and  signed  by  Governor  James 
S.  Calhoun.45  Le6n  and  seven  of  his  companions  were  arrested 
and  tried  before  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Manti  during  the 

46  Bancroft,  Hist  of  Utah,  p.  475.    Whitney,  Hist  of  Utah,  I.  508-510. 


472  THE   HISPANIC   AMERICAN  HISTORICAL  REVIEW 

winter  of  1851-52.  The  case  later  came  before  Zerubbabel 
Snow  as  judge  of  the  First  District  court.  In  summing  up  the 
case,  Snow  made  the  following  statement : 

In  September  last,  twenty-eight  Spaniards  left  New  Mexico  on  a 
trading  expedition  with  the  Utah  Indians,  in  their  various  localities 
in  New  Mexico  and  Utah.  Twenty-one  of  the  twenty-eight  were  sever- 
ally interested  in  the  expedition.  The  residue  were  servants.  Among  this 
company  were  the  Spaniards  against  whom  these  suits  were  brought. 
Before  they  left,  Pedro  Leon  obtained  a  license  from  the  governor  of 
New  Mexico  to  trade  on  his  own  account  with  the  Utah  Indians,  in 
all  their  various  localities.  Another  member  of  the  company  also  had 
a  license  given  to  blank  persons  by  the  Governor  of  New  Mexico.  The 
residue  were  without  license.  They  proceeded  on  their  route  until 
they  arrived  near  the  Rio  Grande,  where  they  exchanged  with  the 
Indians  some  goods  for  horses  and  mules.  With  these  horses  and 
mules,  being  something  more  than  one  hundred,  they  proceeded  to 
Green  River,  in  this  Territory,  where  they  sent  some  five  or  six  of  their 
leading  men  to  see  Governor  Young,  and  exhibit  to  him  their  license; 
and  as  the  Spanish  witness  said  if  that  was  not  good  here,  then  to  get 
from  him  another  license.  Governor  Young  not  being  at  home,  but  gone 
south,  they  proceeded  after  and  found  him  November  3rd  at  Sanpete 
Valley.  Here  they  exhibited  to  the  Governor  their  license,  and  in- 
formed him  they  wished  to  sell  their  horses  and  mules  to  the  Utah  In- 
dians, and  buy  Indian  children  to  be  taken  to  New  Mexico.  Governor 
Young  then  informed  them  that  their  licence  did  not  authorize  them 
to  trade  with  the  Indians  in  Utah.  They  then  sought  one  from  him, 
but  he  refused  to  give  it,  for  the  reason  that  they  wanted  to  buy  In- 
dian children  for  slaves.  The  Spaniards  then  promised  him  they  would 
not  trade  with  the  Indians  but  go  immediately  home.  Twenty  of  the 
number,  with  about  three-fourths  of  the  horses  and  mules,  left  pursuant 
to  this  promise  and  have  not  been  heard  from  since.  The  eight  who  were 
left  behind  are  the  men  who  are  parties  to  these  proceedings.48 

Snow  decided  against  the  eight  defendants,  and  the  Indian 
slaves  in  their  possession  were  liberated  and  the  Mexicans  sent 
away. 

46  Whitney,  Hist,  of  Utah,  I.  510-511. 


THE   OLD   SPANISH  TRAIL  473 

SPANIARDS   ON   SPOKANE   RIVER 

New  Mexicans,  of  course,  were,  at  this  time,  United  States 
citizens,  but  that  they  were  regarded  still  as  Mexicans  in 
language  and  sentiment  not  only  by  the  Mormons  but  by  them- 
selves and  United  States  government  agents  is  indicated  by  an 
incident  narrated  by  Lieutenant  R.  Saxton  in  his  "  Report  of  the 
Route  from  the  Columbia  Valley  to  Fort  Owen  and  thence  to 
Fort  Benton",  in  1853.  When  in  the  vicinity  of  Spokane  River 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  present  state  of  Washington,  Sax- 
ton  found  the  Indians  suspicious  and  almost  inclined  to  be  hos- 
tile.. As  an  explanation  he  recorded  in  his  journal  under  date  of 
August  2,  1853: 

The  Indians  told  me  that  a  Spaniard  had  been  along  a  few  days  be- 
fore, and  told  them  that  a  large  body  of  American  soldiers  were  coming 
to  cut  them  off  and  take  possession  of  their  homes.47 

It  is  not  stated  that  this  Spaniard  was  from  New  Mexico, 
but  it  may,  perhaps,  be  safely  presumed  that  such  was  the  case. 
Incidentally,  this  indicates  the  extent  to  which  activity  of  Mexi- 
can traders  was  carried  as  late  as  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

JOSEPH  J.  HILL. 
Bancroft  Library, 

University  of  California. 

47  U.  S.  Engineer  dept.,  Reports  of  explorations  and  surveys  to  ascertain  the  most 
practical  and  economical  route  for  a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  I.  256  (U.  S.  33d  cong.,  2d  sess  ,  Senate,  Ex.  doc.  78). 


